This 'N That

Ok....Sock Madness is technically over for me. Round 3 began a week ago last Monday and I finished on Thursday at 9:38p.m. Posted my picture and sent my email to the organizers. They were only taking 12 finishers from each team. I was number 13! That's ok, though. I'm really happy with my showing on this year's competition. Here are my finished socks. Loved working with the wool/bamboo combination.


After I finished with that round, I was determined to finish John's socks. I made him a pair of socks right after I learned to knit socks - 3 years ago. I'd only knit one pair of socks before that and I still can't wear them - they look like elf socks. Well, he said they were very nice and then never wore them. Now that I'm almost an expert on socks, I know that those socks were awful! Poor dear could never have worn them, even if he tried, they'd have hurt his feet! So I asked him if I took the time to rip them out completely, and reknit them to his foot measurements (I know how to do that now!), would he wear them. Or, in all honesty, was he married to his dark socks for work and white tube socks for play and would never really wear handknit socks. He said he thought he'd like to at least try. So I ripped them back all the way to a yarn ball, and began knitting them again....tried them on once I got past the gusset on the foot....nope, too small - RIP! How about toe-up? I can do that and make that sock fit his foot like a glove. Yep, let's knit these toe-up....seemed to take forever. Figured out that I was slowing down cause I really, really hate to knit tow-up socks. Ok - I want him to have these socks during his lifetime so...RIP! Cast on for the 4th time and determined to knit them right this time. I knit the cuff - he tried them on. I knit the leg...he tried them on. I knit the heel and gusset - he tried them on. I then knit the foot to the toe decrease and made him try them on again. Then if finished off the tow. He put them on and his face got that happy look when you are afraid of something and it doesn't come to pass. Folks, I give you The Sock! There is another one to match it on his other foot. He wore them to work on Monday and came home to tell me that they fit fine! I can now knit a pair of socks to fit his feet, assuming he never has a change in his feet for the rest of his life! Believe me, I'm keeping my notes and writing them in ink!


We are experienceing wet weather all this week and into the weekend. While we need the moisture, it makes it difficult for John and our neighbor to work on the fencing. If they can get some dry weather, they can put up some more barbed wire for the upper pasture. Once that is done, they can move the cows to that pasture to allow the lower one to 'recover' and the grass to grow some more.

Well, I need to get off to the circulation desk.

Thanks for stopping by. I sure do love having you come by and maybe, just maybe, you could comment? That way I know if folks are liking this or not.

Have a great rest of the week!

Sock Madness 3 - Round 3

Just a short post today...I'm knitting till my fingers bleed today! Not really, it just sounds dramatic, doesn't it? I am knitting like a fiend today. Round 3 came out yesterday afternoon and once I got home I began to knit. I've got the day off today so that leaves me time to knit as well. This round they are only taking 12 folks from each team so time is my enemy. I'm using a lovely yarn I got from a friend in Ireland. 80% merino wool and 20% bamboo in a color she calls Poppy. I adore the feel of the fabric it makes. I'll try to post again at the end of the week with a picture of the finished pair. In the meantime, here is the progress so far.

Thanks for stopping by. Later!

Catching up with Myself

Well, I finished my round 2 Sock Madness socks at 9:02 p.m. last Tuesday. Had Mr. Wonderful take a picture of them on my own two feet, uploaded the picture and was in the middle of sending the required email to the moderators when our internet service quit for the night. (Don't ask! It's a long, complicated story that always ends with me hyperventilating and getting mad all over again and doesn't solve anything!) I called our son in Utah and had him go into my email, type the required wording, insert a link to the uploaded photo and send it off to the mods. The next morning I had a confirmation that I had qualified for Round 3! I was either qualifier number 10, 11, or 12. Doesn't really matter which number I was as long as it was one of the first 20 finishers in my division. We are now impatiently awaiting the final person to qualify in the last division so we can go on to round 3...that should be sometime in the next day or so.

AND - I just signed up for Sock Wars 4 - the international sock-knitting speed battle to end all battles! It starts on May 15th. Wonder who I will get and where they live? This one requires me to knit a prescribed sock for a specific person to their shoe size and mail it to them before the person who has my name sends me a pair of socks knit to my shoe size. It's all quite nerve-wracking and fun! I never expect to win these things...last year I got killed while on vacation in California. The good thing about it is the comraderie and getting a pair of hand-knit socks made for me by a complete stranger!

Well, I'm off to work the front desk for a while. Thanks for stopping by. More later - soon - er, later.

We Have Winners!

First, I'd like to thank everyone who posted to the blog this week....some of you I've seen before and some of you are new to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your comments were so special.

Now, on to the winners. I had 7 comments during the contest - one of them was Mr. Wonderful and he disqualified himself. That left 6. I got home from work yesterday shortly after 5 o'clock. After changing clothes and resting for a while, it was finally 6 o'clock and time for the drawing. I put all the names in a bowl, And I had a visiting friend draw the first name:

Susan, I have no way to get hold of you so please email me with your name, mailing address, and whether you want a quilty prize or a knitty prize, please.

I then had our friend draw another name:

And here's the second prize winner:

Ikkinlala, I'll need your name and mailing address, too, please. You will be getting whichever prize Susan doesn't choose.

Congratulations to both of you.

On another front, I've been working madly on the second round of Sock Madness 3. The pattern came out Saturday morning while I was at work...no time to work on it while there, so didn't get started till later yesterday evening. I've knitted till my fingers are sore today and here's the start - picture was taken last night before I went to bed. The yarn is bamboo. I love working with it...so soft and springy. I'm afraid the colourwork is new to me and it's going to be a bit tight to get on....might have to find someone who has a smaller foot than my gargantuan size 10's.

Well, time to fold laundry and get some other small things done around here before bed. Thanks again for all your wonderfully kind comments. And thanks for stopping by, all of you.

Until next time.

Blogiversary

I checked back and found that I'd been blogging for 2 years this coming Saturday. So, following the crowd, I'm going to have a Blogiversary Giveaway! Leave a comment, on this blog entry, before Saturday, April 4th at 6 p.m. I will draw a name to receive a prize. And THEN, I will draw a second name to receive a prize. YES, INDEEDY! I'm giving away 2 prizes. Since I am primarily a quilter and a knitter, I've decided to give one quilty prize and one knitty prize. The first name drawn will need to tell me if they want the quilty prize or the knitty prize. The second name will get the one that's left. Here is just a peek at what the prizes will be - one quilty part and one knitty part.

That's a ball of Fiddlesticks Zephyr laceweight yarn in a beautiful plummy pink colorway - over 600 yards. And next to it is a charm pack of Moda Poetry Collection 5 inch squares. I'll include some other stuff in the package to make it worth your two cents worth. I don't get a lot of folks who post on my blog, unlike some of you I could name, so I think the odds are pretty good for anyone who enters. I've opened up the comments so even those without Blogger or Google accounts can comment this time. That will allow more of you to enter.

Today is April 1st. For most people, that means April Fools Day. Now, I've never had much use for this day, it's always meant a lot of folk could be mean to others with permission from society. I don't care for practical jokes that make fun of other people cause I don't like having that done to myself. So, I'm telling you all this, the above giveaway is NOT A JOKE! It's real and I will keep my word. Promise!!!

Thanks for stopping by. And Good Luck.